Council lets water run

Hamilton City Council allowed hundreds of litres of fresh water to leak away into the ground over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, while warning residents to conserve it.

Cliff Warrender came to the Waikato Times in frustration after several unfruitful calls to the council regarding the leak over a month.

"I go out to work at 4am and, when nobody is drawing on the supply, the roadside gutter is running at about three quarters full of water," Mr Warrender, a builder, said.

"I rang the council about a fortnight before Christmas to tell them the water is running out of the stop cock, on the council side.

"They said they would get to it as soon as they can but they did not come out to it . . I rang again on January 13 and they said people were on holiday and I told them they must have someone on standby."

Mr Warrender rang back again yesterday. "They just told me they are busy . . . They put out a spiel about saving water, but here's the council, the worst offenders."

The council has put the city on Water Alert Level 1 which restricts sprinkler systems use between 6am and 8am and 6pm and 8pm.

Council spokeswoman Natalie Palmer said the council had received 69 complaints of domestic leaks since 1 December, all of which had been fixed within the required five-day timeframe. "We have spoken to Cliff and apologised for the delay."